1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an endotracheal tube holder assembly and more particularly to a holding block assembly that permits the tube to be adjustably positioned with respect to a patient's mouth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It should be noted that the present application is an improved embodiment over the tube holder disclosed in my pending application Ser. No. 08/323,159 filed Oct. 14, 1994 for an ENDOTRACHEAL TUBE HOLDER, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 234,540 filed Apr. 28, 1994, now U.S. Pat. 5,402,776 issued to the present applicant.
Endotracheal tube devices are used under several conditions such as in the ventilation of a patient during anesthesia, resuscitation as well as during critical care that commonly arise not only in the hospital but also during the time when a patient is being transported.
As is well known in the art, various problems and difficulties are encountered in providing suitable means for securing an endotracheal tube in a simple and positive manner to a tube holding device that is generally a part of a mouth piece of the face plate assembly.
Many types of securing arrangements have been tried in the prior art which very often included simply mounting the tube in place with adhesive tape that was applied to the tube and several areas of the patient's face. Some endotracheal tubes were mounted in a face plate that included a bite block whereby the patient was required to grip the bite block with his or her teeth. However, other prior art tube holders have included locking means for securing the endotracheal tube to the face plate of the tube holder.
For typical examples of prior art endotracheal tube holders one may refer to those disclosed in the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,154 issued to A. B. Potter, et al; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,019 issued to B. Weinstein; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,358 issued to G. E. McGinnis; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,537,192 issued to B. R. Foster; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,527 issued to D. L. Hinton; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,529 issued to J. Nestor, et al. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,776 issued to Steve Islava
In addition to the above patents see U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,504 ("'504 patent") which issued to D. W. Vrona et al. The '504 patent teaches an endotracheal tube attachment device in which a flexible track strip is secured across the upper lip and adjacent cheek area of a patient by means of an adhesive. Such an adhesive, in intimate contact with a patient's skin for a prolonged period, irritates the skin and often results in a breakdown of the skin tissue. To properly provide long term care of patients, depending upon an endotracheal tube, it is necessary to clean the oral cavity frequently, e.g., every 2-4 hours, to prevent or inhibit the development of oral pneumonia. The '504 track strip would not appear to be conducive to such cleaning practices because the adhesive would be wetted by such secretions, thereby providing a further irritant to the skin underlaying the track and adhesive. Furthermore, the tube attachment device disclosed in the '504 patent is not useable, as a practical matter, with patients that normally wear dentures since, in the absence of such dentures, there is inadequate support for the track strip.
There is a need for an adjustable endotracheal tube holder suitable for long term use which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.